Senior Design Projects

Where classroom knowledge meets translational application

Seniors in the engineering science and mechanics program complete a research-intensive capstone project with a design focus as part of their graduation requirements. Students self-elect their teams at the beginning of their senior year, and under the direction of a faculty advisor, must meet project milestones and give several team updates before delivering a final presentation at the end of the year.

Team spotlight: NASA Student Launch Initiative rocketry design

This student team is taking on a big challenge – the NASA Student Launch Initiative. Student Launch is a research-based, competitive, experiential exploration activity that strives to provide relevant, cost-effective research and development of rocket propulsion systems. The competition is open to college as well as high school students, and team members must design and build a rocket completely from scratch, meeting project deadlines, payload requirements, and reports specifications along the way. With a lot of hard work and a little luck, these ESM students will be traveling to Huntsville, Alabama, in April 2019 to launch their completed rocket during NASA's launch day activities.